Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Season 1 goes live at 0000 (midnight) ET on November 6, 2100 PT on November 5, across all platforms, according to the official Call of Duty announcement. The update lands roughly two weeks after Modern Warfare 4’s October 23 launch and opens the first major post-launch content window with new Multiplayer maps and modes, the X01 DMZ location, the Cronen Osprey and CSG-35 through the Season 1 Battle Pass, and Warzone integration through two new maps, Hajin and Zodiac, plus the return of Verdansk and Rebirth Island. The full Warzone intel and Roadmap arrive separately on Monday, November 2.
Multiplayer Maps: Backstab, Canyon, Shoot House and More
Season 1 opens with three 6v6 maps at launch. Backstab is a brand-new medium-sized map set in a snowy, war-torn town where abandoned tanks litter the landscape and drone ordnance line the shelves of a deserted dwelling. Long-ranged sightlines dominate the streets, while open buildings offer closer fights, and vantage points include the roof of the Stronghold House and the upper levels of the Sniper House, Grandpa’s House, and Destroyed Building. Canyon is a brand-new medium-sized map in sun-scorched terrain with towering rock walls, a river near a Convoy Ambush, a Cliff Path, a northern Cave, and an Abandoned Shack. Operators can climb small shelves and platforms or take the central Mesa for views toward both ends. Shoot House returns as a reimagined medium-sized map set in North Korea during light snowfall, with the familiar Junkyard, Center tunnels, and Containers lanes intact. Control of the overhead Hospital and Apartment matters for the best sightlines. The base game already established the 12 launch maps and modes, and Season 1 immediately extends that map pool.
The featured Kill Block combo is Crash. In this combo all three slabs remain static and do not change between rounds. Infinity Ward selected the combo from the most popular combinations in the MW4 Beta, and the Crash combo also enters additional Core Multiplayer playlists including Search and Destroy. Mid-season adds Ministry, which fights at a damaged embassy around the Global Peace Summit, and Overflow, which centers on a factory and surrounding farmland near mobile rocket launchers. Additional [CLASSIFIED] maps arrive with the Season 1 Reloaded content drop. Shipment, a remastered small map set on a Russian harbor, arrived pre-launch on October 27 and is already available for early weapon leveling.
Multiplayer Modes: Possession and Infected First, Grind and Drop Zone at Launch
Two party modes land in the pre-season. Possession arrives October 29 as a new mode in which eliminated players are possessed, transmigrating the killer to their location and stealing their Loadout. Infected returns October 30 as a Survivors-versus-Infected mode. The Infected use the FSS Carbon Edge Combat Knife, Throwing Knife, and Ninja Perk, while Survivors carry the Rezi 12 Shotgun with hot-loaded explosive slugs via the Enforcer Apex Attachment, plus Trip Wire and a Concussion Grenade.
At Season 1 launch, Grind returns with two Banks on the map and dog tags that drop on elimination. Operators can carry multiple dog tags and will drop all carried tags upon being eliminated. Drop Zone returns with a single rotating objective and periodic airdrops of Killstreak packages. Gauntlet 1v1 is a launch LTM inside the Wager Match Event, where the winning player stays to face another opponent. Mid-season brings Counter Attack, focused on detonating bombs at the enemy Comm Station while protecting your own, plus a Team Deathmatch twist mode and more modes through events.
DMZ: X01, Ghost as Watcher and Classified Threats
The Season 1 DMZ update opens X01, a former GRANIT Arms black site seized by North Korean forces near Hajin’s borders. The facility is a dimly lit labyrinthian network of passageways, tunnels, and linking chambers surrounding a clandestine weapons assembly line. Ground-penetrating radar has revealed multi-floored vertical traversals. The announcement says troops and specialists from the 100 Spirits NK Faction may be active inside, and stronger, more brutal entities patrol the interior, making head-to-head combat unwise. Ghost is the Watcher for X01 and guides new DMZ Orders, tracks the route, flags emerging threats, and hints at what remains as each area is accessed. New enemies and new items are [CLASSIFIED]. X01 holds equipment unavailable elsewhere, with potential to secure rare finds on every deployment. The facility will take extreme measures to remove intruders, so Operators need to know the nearest exfil.
Forward Operating Base upgrades include a Battle Pass and Store Station next to the Survival Kit Station, a Vendor that sells weapons and gear for DMZ Cash if you have Season 1 BlackCell, and a Boss Board. The Boss Board tracks Lieutenants Tae-Hyun ‘Knuckle’ and Chol-Min ‘The Wrench’ along with Commanders including The Captain, a Juggernaut with an elite guard, and an autonomous patrolling Wheelson. The 3D Printer is [CLASSIFIED]. The new FOB layer extends the systems covered in the DMZ deep dive. Season 1 DMZ events begin with Threat Briefing: Battle Tank in Hajin, Threat Briefing: The Captain in X01, and Resupply Run, with more Threat Briefings later in the season.
Warzone: Hajin, Zodiac, Verdansk and Rebirth Island
Modern Warfare 4 becomes fully integrated with the free-to-play Warzone in Season 1. Two new Warzone maps arrive, Hajin and Zodiac, and Verdansk and Rebirth Island return. The announcement promises additional Warzone game modes and gameplay features, then defers the list to a separate post on November 2, four days before Season 1.
Weapons: Cronen Osprey, CSG-35, JAK 12 and ZLR Talonhawk
The Season 1 Battle Pass adds two free base weapons. The Cronen Osprey Assault Rifle is a 5.56 rifle with a 882 RPM fire rate, 30 rounds, and 90 reserve, unlocked at Battle Pass Tier 16 and Tier 87 for a Blueprint. In sustained fire the weapon kicks up and to the right, though steady aiming and burst fire can counter it. Its Apex Attachment, the Cronen Helix Mk. II, is a double-barrel receiver that fires on both trigger pull and release. The CSG-35 SMG has a 1200 RPM fire rate, the highest in its class, with 28 rounds and 112 reserve, unlocked at Tier 36 and Tier 73. The rapid follow-up shots overwhelm enemies within 20 meters, but the climbing recoil becomes harder to control past that distance. Its Apex Attachment, CSG Crossfire, dual-wields akimbo CSG-35 SMGs. Later in the season, the full-auto JAK 12 Shotgun arrives as an event reward with a 323 RPM fire rate, 8 rounds, and 16 reserve, and the ZLR Talonhawk melee combat axe arrives as an event reward. The JAK 12 works as a breaching tool for targets on the other side of a closed door. The new attachments include Hyeon Auto, Kastov 545, M16 Burst, TT Iron Guard Kit for the .50 GS Pistol, and ChainSAW Grip for the FiNN LMG. These additions sit alongside the launch operators and weapons and expand the arsenal before the first mid-season drop.
Battle Pass, BlackCell, Events and the C.O.D.E. Valor Pack
The Season 1 Battle Pass uses a linear 100-tier track with more than 100 rewards and a new catch-up system. Premium Battle Pass owners are guaranteed 50+ rewards and are automatically caught up to the reward matching the current day of the season, up to day 50. The premium Battle Pass costs 1,100 COD Points; the Battle Pass Bundle costs 2,400 COD Points. Instant rewards include the Downpour Operator Skin for Blix, the Fortune’s Favor FiNN LMG Weapon Blueprint, the Happy Boom Sticky Grenade Lethal Equipment Blueprint, up to 1,100 COD Points, a 10 percent Battle Pass XP boost, and a DMZ Survival Kit.
Players who complete all 100 premium tiers earn the Vantage Operator Skin for Blix, the Blue Viper Hyeon Burst Assault Rifle Weapon Blueprint, 200 COD Points, the Honor’s Harbinger Calling Card, the Virtue’s Snarl Emblem, a DMZ Survival Kit, and the Tier 100 Bellum Ultra rarity Mosin-Nagant Assault Rifle Weapon Blueprint. Later, premium owners can unlock eight additional Operator Skins through bonus rewards. Blix is the Season 1 Battle Pass Operator. BlackCell Agent XERO is the BlackCell instant reward, with the Cowled and Adder skin variants, the Perimeter Lance M4 Assault Rifle Signature Weapon Blueprint, a custom BlackCell Lobby Scene, 20 Tier Skip Tokens, and a Mastery Camo Track. BlackCell owners also get seven BlackCell Operator Skins across Blix, Oh-Ji, Velikan, Min-Hee, Luca, and Dallas, plus seven BlackCell Weapon Blueprints for weapons including the CSG-35, Cronen Osprey, and Mosin-Nagant Marksman Rifle.
Season 1 events include the Wager Match Event, which uses Trophies as currency across Multiplayer, DMZ, and Warzone, Weapon Camo Events, and the Joint Fire squad-up event with larger squads activating bigger XP boosts and rewards like Blueprints, Charms, 2XP Tokens, and a DMZ Survival Kit. The C.O.D.E. Valor Pack, created with Medal of Honor recipient Kyle Carpenter, donates 100 percent of Activision net proceeds to the Call of Duty Endowment, which has placed more than 180,000 veterans since 2009.
